Driehaus Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 265 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $808.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $774.41 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $448.31 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $768.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $758.65. The company has a market capitalization of $104.27 billion, a PE ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB, Display and Component Inspection.